The Wizard and the Mage
by switchonlights
Summary: Alondra was exiled from The Clan, and now finds herself at the mercy of the clans worst enemy. With a necklace to hold her true loves heart, and a tattoo around her ankle, Howl can't figure her out, but Alondra can figure out Howl. Book&Movie.


My feet ached and my bones were chilled. I had been walking for what seemed like an eternity over the mist shrouded moor. Another coughing spasm racked my body, causing me to shake so violently I collapsed onto the heather. As I tried to get myself back on my feet, I fell again, sprawling on my side. My hair spilled out from under my kerchief, blending in with the purple flowers. The cold bit into me, though I wrapped my wool cloak tightly around myself, giving up all pretense of standing and walking again. Instead, I concentrated on what I knew. What I knew, and more importantly, what I didn't know.  
My name was Alondra Leonardo. I was eighteen years old. The mage mark rested squarely on my cheek. My hair was the color of the heather, as were my eyes and the mark on my cheek. I knew that I had been expelled from the Clan. What I didn't know was why. I didn't know where I was besides in a patch of flowers. And I knew I would die of sickness or exposure before I found out.  
It began to rain. Cold, hard droplets of water that rolled off my cloak and onto my face. I began to cough again. And cough.  
The leaves and petals of the flowers around me caught the rain droplets and sent them flinging back at the grey sky. Raining up and Raining down. The noise was much to loud as I lay on my back staring up at the sky. It was as if I could head each individual rain drop as it hit, the sound magnified greatly. Then the thunder began. Loud as a thousand kettle drums.  
But it's pounding in a rhythm, I realized. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Thud, thud, thud, thud. No. More like creak-THUD, creak-THUD. And so on. What ever could it be? I could make out a shape moving toward me in the mist.  
My heart pounding in my ribcage, I struggled to sit up. My hands moved frantically through the heather, searching for the leather grip of my sword and bow. A hilt. Fingers wrapped tightly around it I stumbled up, planted my feet and stood my ground.  
The thing grew larger and larger until I could make it out. A strange, lumpy thing moving on huge chicken legs. Howl's Castle. In my shock, I stumbled again. Howl was the Clan's worst enemy, and the most powerful. On shaking legs and with a heart full of dread, I faced my fate.

Howl's POV A putrid smell drifted under the bathroom door causing me to groan. Markl was trying a new spell. With much grumbling and splashing I clambered out of the bath and dressed quickly.  
"Markl!" I called as I hurried down the stairs. "What in the world are you doing?"  
"I was trying to do the spell to see what was outside, but something went wrong!" my apprentice exclaimed.  
I sighed loudly. "Nothing went wrong. That spell just reeks. Let me see." I nudged Markl out of the way and looked into the bowl of water that lay on the cluttered table. In the bowl lay the image of a girl. She was fierce looking, and evidently weak. In her raised hand she held a sword and she was facing the castle as the wind battered her. The way her skirt ended above her knees and the mark on her cheek identified her as a member of the Clan.  
"Calcifer, we seem to have a dying assassin outside," I chuckled. "One with purple hair. Should we invite her in?"  
"A Clan girl?" if fires could choke, Calcifer did. "All the way out here? Could she be...?"  
"I don't know. That's why I was asking your opinion."  
"If she's near death she won't be much threat anyway." The castle groaned in protest as Cal set it down.  
I grabbed my cloak from where it lay thrown on the couch and headed outside into the pouring rain. The girl stood only a few meters away from the door, and her stance changed when she saw me to a more defensive pose.  
"Stay back," she growled in a hoarse voice.  
"I'm not going to hurt you stupid girl, I was going to invite you in." I held out a hand. She hesitated, looking between me, and the light and warmth coming from the castle.  
"I don't believe you," she said, then began to cough. As she coughed the sword dropped from her hands and her frail body collapsed to the ground. "But I suppose whatever death you have for me in there is quicker than one out here." She took my offered hand and I helped her up. It surprised me how small she was, her firm stance and unmodest skirt gave the illusion of height.  
Markl stared as I helped the girl into the castle.  
"Why are you dressed like that?" he blurted rudely.  
"So I can run fast and fight hard," the girl replied softly.  
"Sit here," I ordered, pushing her down onto the couch in front of Calcifer.  
"Are you from the Clan?" Markl asked her as she went into another coughing fit. She nodded. I rested my hand on the back of her neck, trying to gage how sick she was. I sighed as she stiffened.  
"I won't hurt you," I said again. "How long have you been sick?"  
"Three days after leaving. So... ten days."  
"No other Clan member is out there Howl," Calcifer announced, and the girl jumped, the regained her shell.  
"Of course not. Why would they follow me? They pronounced me an outcast and sent me away like one with a deadly disease." Her voice was harsh, like she was trying to keep tears back. Calcifer and I glanced at each other. We knew why she had been outcasts.  
"What's you name?" I asked as kindly as I could.  
"Alondra. Alondra Leonardo." as she spoke, her voice got softer and softer, until she fell asleep. 


End file.
